Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
‘New Shipping Channel’
As per information received from the Directorate General of Shipping, Ministry of Shipping, the recommendatory routeing system in SW waters is on the outer fringes of the Kollam bank. The “routeing system” is located at distance of more than 50 kilometers from the coast and is located beyond the 200m depth contour. It was promulgated after due consultations with the stakeholders from 03rd Aug 2018 to 02nd July 2020 including State Governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, fishing organizations, Central Government Ministry and Departments and ship owners.
Representations have been received from Honourable Members of Parliament.
As informed by the Directorate General of Shipping, the concerns raised by the Honourable Members of Parliament were addressed and clarified. It was informed by the DG Shipping that the “routeing system” is only recommendatory. Also, there has been no loss of livelihood in other areas where such “routeing system” were introduced. Honourable members were also informed that the “routeing system” was expected to be useful in regulating the marine traffic in the area, thereby, improving the safety in the area.
The draft “routeing system” was forwarded by DG Shipping to the then Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries , Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare  in August, 2018. The then DADF, MoAFW had advised the DG Shipping to have consultation with the stakeholders including State Governments and fishermen associations. The DG Shipping has the informed that the stakeholders were consulted from 03rd Aug 2018 to 02nd July 2020 prior to finalising the routeing system including Ministry of Fisheries, Government of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and fishing organisations. The “Draft Routeing measures” were placed on website and sent to stakeholders for comments on 03 Aug 2018, 10 Sep 2018, 14 June 2019, 01 Aug 2019, 21 Aug 2019 and 31 Jan 2020. Besides, several meetings were held by the Directorate General of Shipping with stakeholders after receipt of comments including representatives of the fishing organisations on 29 Aug 2018, 06 Sep 2018, 07 Sep 2018, 25 Sep 2018, 31 Oct 2019 and 03 March 2020.
As informed by the Directorate General of Shipping, all factors including ecosystem, fishing density and effect on livelihood were considered prior the routeing system was issued by DG Shipping as recommendatory routeing system. The routeing system was therefore kept outside the 200-meter depth contour at a distance of more than 50 kilometres away from the nearest coast.
It is informed by the Directorate General of Shipping that the routeing system is recommendatory and not mandatory. As per international law, merchant vessels of all nationalities have right of innocent passage through the waters of every country including the territorial waters. In view of the same, merchant vessels of all nationalities are currently navigating within Indian territorial waters including through the “Kollam Bank”. This has resulted in several collision incidents between merchant vessels and fishing vessels, resulting in loss of property and environmental pollution but in several instances, it has also resulted in loss of precious lives. To improve the safety in the area, a routeing system was considered by DG Shipping. Initially, the proposed routeing system was planned over a large area closer to the South West coast. However, after due consultation with local Governments and fishing organisations, the routeing system was limited to a small area in SW Indian waters beyond the 200m depth contour, at a distance of more than 50 kilometres. The routeing system is expected to encourage merchant vessels to use the defined path, instead of the entire Territorial Waters and EEZ that is now available, thereby, leaving more space for the fishing vessels.
This answer was given by the Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi in a written reply.